Vol. 557 No. 1
447 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the number of lobby groups or public relations firms he or his Department has met with to discuss issues of impending legislation since the formation of the present Government; the issues on which they lobbied; if this resulted in changes or amend ments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21653/02]
I assume that the reference to lobby groups is to groups which have been set up primarily for the purpose of lobbying on an issue or issues and does not include sectoral groups, voluntary organisations and the like who engage with Government on a wide range of issues, some of which may relate to proposed legislation.
I can confirm that neither I nor my Department have engaged in any meetings of the type described by the Deputy since the formation of the present Government.
However I met representatives of the Law Society at their request on 9 October 2002. The purpose of the meeting was to enable the Law Society to make a detailed presentation of the society's report of July 2002 on charity law reform. The Law Society's report on charity law is a welcome contribution to the process of reforming this important body of legislation and the issues raised and recommendations contained in the society's report will be considered in that context.
The White Paper on Supporting Voluntary Activity sets out the Government's commitment to ensuring the introduction of comprehensive legislation on regulation of charities and charitable fundraising. The work of reviewing the legislation, which is currently under way in my Department, will be accompanied by a broad public consultation on the appropriate regulatory framework and the nature and extent of the legislative reform required.
I also discussed the Official Languages (Equality) Bill 2002 at various fora and with a number of groups, including Conradh na Gaeilge. Conradh na Gaeilge was the only group to seek a meeting specifically about this subject.
